Aug 27
MoggyBBC, Internet, Media, Web Design, Website
On a day-to-day basis, I, and I’m sure many others of you do too, read the news. I commonly read mine online, brought forward to me either by RSS feeds or Twitter feeds – or by looking at my Safari homepage, currently set to Guardian.co.uk.
If you know me personally, you will know how much of a picky person I am, and here I will tell you why I picked the Guardian for my homepage out of all the other news sites to compare. I hve compared the layout of The Guardian to two other media sources; the BBC and The Times.
BBC News Online
I have always been a supporter of the BBC, and I shall say that for specific news stories, I read the BBC News online articles by choice. However, I dislike the BBC Homepage. Firstly, the whole thing just looks crammed in my opinion. I dislike the way that those eight ‘other top stories’ on the right don’t even get a description… and compare this to the ‘also in the news’ section and the ‘video and audio news’ section which have far less important stories, but are granted a thumbnail. Don’t get me wrong, the content on the BBC is great – but the layout and the homepage… not so.
Times Online
I rarely use the Times Online website, which is strange for me considering the Times is my favourite newspaper. Strange right? Well, I don’t read the online articles out of choice, nor is it set to my homepage, nor do I have any Times-related RSS feeds or updates of any sort. However, I thought I’d bung it in for comparison. I do rather like the layout, though see that big white space above the logo… yeah, thats a big banner ad – thankfully it’s not showing as I have an ad-blocker plug-in installed. Also see that space in the bottom right, yeah, that’s an ad too. I know companies like Times Online have to make money somehow, but I honestly hate large obtrusive adverts. Then there’s just the general feel of Times Online, it just looks… bland, plain, boring. Compare it to the Guardian, below, which makes better use of colour. And then, the layout, it hosts the biggest crime of all. When I’m scrolled to the top, excluding the ‘most read’ box, I can only see a maximum of 4 news stories. Just 4.
The Guardian
And then we have the Guardian, my current favourite. The page is vibrant and attractive, unlike The Times it is colourful and mildly exciting – and I can see more than just 4 stories! There are no obtrusive ads, and the column on the right is small and out the way in my opinion.
And then, finally, as it’s worth a mention – the Media Guardian section is fantastic and hosts great content – one of the real great reasons why I use The Guardian for online news reading.
Aug 26
MoggyMedia, TV
I was very happy this morning. I woke up to the news that Channel 4 was ‘on the verge’ of announcing it will axe Big Brother from 2010 onwards. I was riveting in happiness, but until then, is it such good news? I mean… really!?
Turns out that Channel 4 signed a £180m contract with Endemol for 3 years worth of Big Brother to be shown, rather ruining my glorious TV schedule. That means, before BB actually gets axed, we have to bear another Celebrity Big Brother (no doubt with few celebrities anyway) and another standard Big Brother in Summer 2010. Great.
Mind you, after that, it should be the end of Big Brother on our TV screens for ever… well… possibly. Back in 2006, before the whole Shilpa Shetty race row, it turns out that this £180m deal was a fight between ITV and Channel 4. I cannot understand possibly why C4 wanted the rights for another 3 years, but they got them, but then cocked the viewing figures all up. But the news today suggests that Channel 4 is not interested any more – and they are just the broadcaster. Endemol are, probably, on the other hand, very happy with Big Brother in the production side of things, and I bet you any money that they will try get another broadcaster on board – ITV or Five perhaps. After all, they have 2 million British nutters who actually watch Big Brother to please.
And then, sadly, after this, we will still have to put up with Big Brother. Don’t get me wrong, it is fantastic news that Channel 4 is axing BB, Channel 4 is a great broadcaster and it was letting their programming down… but… don’t get your hopes up that the how has gone forever.
Update: Even better news! This article at The Guardian says that none of the other major broadcasters are interested in buying the rights for Big Brother. Whey!
Apr 11
MoggyAdvertising, Media
here are just 9 of my favourite adverts in which the creative director deserves an award. enjoy!
Guinness (Singapore, 2003 – What’s on Your Mind?)
Ikea (USA, 2003)
Flash Car Wash (UK, 2005 – Dirty Weekend)
Grande Reportagem Magazine (Portugal, 2005) (click for a larger preview)
there’s also some other flags in the same style: EU, angola, columbia, somalia, and others.
The Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption (Brazil, 2004)
the text reads in english: are you so indifferent that you didn’t even notice that this photo is upside down?
Nike (Canada, 2005 – you’re faster than you think.)
Land Rover (Mexico, 2003)
sorry i couldn’t get anything higher quality – but the top image has the subtitle “freeway” and the bottom image “pothole”.
Mini Cooper (Switzerland, 2004)
if you’re confused, this board was placed at the top of a staircase from one of the exit’s of a subway train station in zurich.
there you go, hope you enjoyed them! please comment and link to other cool adverts.
Apr 09
MoggyLife, Media, Movies
Here is a list of 6 of my favourite movies (in no particular order) in which the narrative follows the life of a certain character. All are well worth a watch – and made me feel so much better about my role in life.
Slumdog Millionaire
Ok, so if the number of awards and Oscar’s this one got doesn’t prove to you how much the hype is worth about this movie – well, just believe me when I say it really is. It’s a very powerful story following Jamal, a ‘slumdog’ from Mumbai and his life as a child. The movie begins where he is being tortured into admitting whether he cheated in a game of the indian version of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’. As the episode of the programme is played back to us, each question asked has a story relative to Jamal’s life.
The Departed
This movie has probably the most confusing storyline I have ever come across in my lifetime of watching movies. Full of corruption, love, crime, family – the whole thing portrays the life of a police officer as he goes from college into adulthood, and, eventually, death (whoops, just given away a spoiler there – but it’s very predicable anyway!). All the actors have brilliant roles and the whole thing just works well.
Brokeback Mountain
Probably the most controversial movie in recent times, Brokeback Mountain was a fantastic movie. The movie follows the lives of two friends in a gay relationship over a 20 year relationship. Granted, it’s not everyones cup of tea – but the movie comes to an incredibly moving and sad close – definitely worth a watch, whoever you are.
The Shawshank Redemption
Currently the #1 highest rated movie on IMDb, it’s easy to see why. The movie is the life of Andy Dufresne, an innocent man sent to Shawshank prison, for a crime we are led to believe he never committed. He serves 20 years, and on the day he arrives, his soon-to-be best friend, Red (played by Morgan Freeman) completes his first 20 years of prison life. I can’t give to much more away, but the movie uncovers the corruption and life of Shawshank right up until the day he leaves. An amazing film.
Amélie (Le Fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain)
A french film now, which you’ll have to watch with subtitles, is all about the ‘fabulous life of Amélie Poulain’ as translated from the french title. Starting at the opening credits with her birth, her alone childhood, moving onto her early life, and then onto the young woman she is now. The film is almost in a sense a diary or documentary (for example, the convention of using a narration) of her life in a matter of days where she uncovers the lives of others that relate around her. While sad and moving in places, it’s funny and feel-good in others.
To Kill A Mockingbird
I would strongly recommend you read the book first, then the movie. What people say about how the story of Scout and Jem being the children of Atticus, the only white lawyer ever to try defending a black man in a fair trail in 40′s deep-south America – is a fantastic setting for the film. The old black and white movie may not be up to specs on effects or quality – the life from the viewpoint of Scout is certainly very interesting.
Jan 02
MoggyFamous People, Media, TV
Dare I waste any time writing a proper blog post on Big Brother? So here is a badly written rant about the show.
Well, I watched ONE Big Brother series, and that was the Celebrity version 2 years back with Jade Goody and all her racial remarks, but even that I only watched it at the coincidental times when I was watching the TV and the show was on. I had been bullied into watching the series because everyone thought it was cool and interesting and all that. No. They were wrong.
I’d just like to think from the point of view of the contestants. What in gods name possesses people to want to live in the Big Brother house?? Besides money, fame and glory – you look like a complete twat most of the time and about 4 days in, you are already the subject of everyones conversations up and down the UK.
So the point of the view from the audience now. So the uses and gratifications theory states we watch TV programmes for one or more of the following reasons:
- Information; erm…. none in BB.
- Entertainment; does BB make me laugh? not really…
- Personal Identity; I would NEVER compare myself to the nutters who take part in BB.
- Social Interaction; I’d leave every conversation about BB with my friends.
Clearly, there are no reasons what so ever to watch BB. Thats not to mention the people that will call in and VOTE for housemates. I find it bizzare that people vote for the most annoying people so they get evicted… If I were forced to vote I’d vote for the people most annoying so they were locked up away from society for longer.
And, this series of BB is the ‘CBB’ variety. Yes. Celebrities. It makes me laugh. I
read a Yahoo story that leaked possible candidates for the show. They were:
Other than Ulrika Johnson, other names linked to the series include glamour model Lucy Pinder, who would allegedly earn £150,000; former Sugababe Mutya Buena, who’ll apparently receive £60,000; and Ben Adams from the boyband A1, who could get just £20,000. Liberty X’s Michelle Heaton, socialist MSP Tommy Sheridan, rapper Coolio, Austen Powers star Verne Troyer and La Toya Jackson may also appear.
I’m sorry. But, I’ve only heard of 2 of the 9 names mentioned above. I’ve heard of Ulrika Johnson, but don’t know what she does or who she is, and Coolio, the rapper who made ‘Gangsters Paradise’, but other than that one, I’ve successfully heard of no other songs.
I will not be paying attention to any of this series. Period.
Dec 10
MoggyComputer, Media, Software
As you may be aware, I proudly own Final Cut Express and have no intentions of ever switching from it because it is a truly fantastic video editing application.
However, I have recently downloaded the free trial version of Adobe’s Premiere Pro CS4 and tried it out, and here are, after a few days of use, are some good and bad things about Premiere compared to Apple’s Final Cut Express – from the point of view of a moderate (but getting professional) video editor.
Final Cut Express:
Adobe Premiere Pro CS4:
Awesome Stuff about Premiere Pro CS4:
- You don’t have to render video you import just to play (correct me if I’m wrong, but in FCE you HAVE to render every time you make an edit just to play back)
- There’s a built in browser that allows you to drag and drop files from the browser into the timeline easily.
- When you set up a new project, a wizard setup allows you to set all your settings – very easily.
- Got a nicer user interface (in many ways, in others not so much)
- Audio tracks for left and right stereo mix are compressed into just one track, not two – saves space.
Not so good about CS4, stuff that I can do in FCE:
- In my experience FCE has run a lot smoother on my MacBook Pro, but maybe thats just me.
- [Although I know you can easily download more…] There are more filters and effects loaded into Final Cut Express
- Simple layout in FCE – 4 windows clearly visible. CS4 is a bit confusing to the new user.
- More motion controls for each clip in FCE
And there’s bound to be more reasons as to which is better/worse/etc. This is just me noticing some quick things a few days into use.
So, my general opinion: If you’ve got a PC, Adobe Premiere has got to be the way to go – really great and powerful video editor. For Mac users, where Final Cut is an option, I’d say go for Final Cut Express – it is cheaper, which is handy, but is also a very good way to get learning in video editing. That said, Adobe Premiere is also very nice, and you can get a
free trail to try it out and compare (like I have).
Moggy
Oct 31
MoggyFamous People, Life, Media
Well, for those that haven’t been around the past couple of days, or just haven’t generally heard the news stories about Ross/Brand, this is a summary of what happened, and what I think should happen about it.
On the 18th October, Russell Brand with guest presenter Jonathan Ross presented a radio show on BBC Radio 2, which had be pre-recorded two days earlier. A really good timeline of events can be found here. Basically, the two presenters prank called actor Andrew Sachs and left a bunch of obscene messages on his answerphone about his granddaughter, who Brand claimed to have slept with. Since then there has been over 30,000 complaints sent to the BBC and Ofcom about the broadcast, Brand has resigned, Ross has been suspended for 12 weeks, and BBC Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas has quit.
In my opinion, this should never have happened in the first place. The BBC have a job to restrict pre-recorded content, and had 2 days to do so, but they didn’t… there should be stronger restrictions in place I believe. Ok – so they may have thought the show was funny, and a great laugh, but they team at the radio station should remember that their content should cater for all because of being license funded, and this clearly offended some… had this been broadcast on a commercial station such as Fox FM, there problem would be nowhere near as bad.
Although, having said all that, if I were to have listened to the show, I think I would have just laughed and enjoyed the show – thats just who I am. The Radio 2 team made a mistake – it’s over, learn for another time. Ross/Brand have clearly paid a fair price (suspension and resignation) and now things should just move on.
I was also interested to hear that only two complaints were received on the day of broadcast, and only a few more the following day. Infact, 9 days after the broadcast, there was only 1500 or so complaints. Only when the story hit mainstream news media, both print, e-media, and broadcasting, did the number really start to dramatically go up – which if I’m honest is a bit pathetic knowing that people are either reminded to complain, or complaining when the only hear about the news story. Quite honestly, those sort of people can just listen to something else if what they listened to they don’t like.
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